President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has on Thursday ratified the Bill on Legal Profession.

While People’s Majlis had passed the bill proposed on behalf of the government by North Maafannu MP Imthiyaz Fahmy on Tuesday, 69 members had voted in favor of passing the bill while four had abstained from voting.

The President’s Office revealed that the ratification of the bill establishes the Bar Council and its mandates and all regulatory power related to legal professionals including issuing licenses and penalization falls within the mandate of the Bar Council.

Further, the bill also empowers Legal Professionals to strengthen academics in the sector with easier access to better training opportunities.

Upon ratification of the bill, the act has now been published in the government gazette.

The bill was first proposed in the 18th parliament, during which it was approved by the committee on independent institutions and sent to the floor. However, it was returned to the committee and remained there until the end of the parliament tenure.